GILMER IS designated as the home team Saturday night against the Henderson Lions at Lobo Stadium in Longview. But even if the Buckeyes weren’t, they’d probably feel at home there. They have played five games at Lobo Stadium in the last two years, all of them victories:

Friday, Nov. 11, 2011

Gilmer 48, Atlanta 14

Friday, Nov. 18, 2011

Gilmer 57, Van 40

Saturday, Oct. 13, 2012

Gilmer 28, Henderson 26

Friday, Nov. 23, 2012

Gilmer 57, Atlanta 13

Friday, Dec. 7, 2012

Gilmer 41, Henderson 34

IN FACT, you have to go all the way back to Friday, Nov. 17, 2006, to find the last time the Buckeyes walked off the field at Lobo Stadium on the short end of the scoreboard. That was the 39-36 bi-district loss to LaMichael James’ Liberty-Eylau Leopards, who went on to win the 2006 Division I state title after that upset victory.

Coach Jeff Traylor of the Buckeyes went over some of the standouts in last Friday night’s 56-28 road win over Chapel Hill.

“Ardarius Johnson, six tackles, one assists, one pressure, four knocked-down passes.

“Garrett Parish, five tackles, one assist, one pressure, two sacks.

“Bryan Restine, four tackles, four assists, two pressures, one fumble recovery.

“John McPherson, five tackles, four assists, one forced fumble and one interception.

“Our offensive line played very, very well; blocked a very good front. We had over 440 yards of rushing.”

He then named the members of that line, who deserve to get to see their names in print or in pixels more often:

Overall, Coach Traylor was not totally satisfied with his team’s performance.

“We’re just so inconsistent. We play really great at times. We play really poor at times.

“And, you know, if we’re going to get to the team we want to be, we’re going to have to be more consistent.”

On this trip to the campus of Longview High School, the Buckeyes will again be matching up against the Henderson Lions in the KYKX Saturday Night Game of the Week. A player from each team will be awarded a $1,005 scholarship before this District 16-3A contest.

Coach Dickey Meeks, by the way, Henderson’s mentor for the last seven seasons, has moved on to Pittsburg, but that doesn’t necessarily mean Gilmer won’t see him again. There is some chance the Buckeyes and Pirates will meet in the Area round of the playoffs.

But that’s far in the future. The Buckeyes, having lost only one district game since 2001, are on a mission to complete another undefeated run through the District of Doom before the district meets its own doom with the radical UIL realignment coming up next February.

Phil Castles, the new Lions head coach, wants to keep the program at the high level of performance Meeks and his staff established for it.

As he told Gabe Brooks of ETSN.fm, “We’re expecting great things. The expectations are not gonna lower here. We’ve gotta keep them where they are. We’ve got high expectations regardless of the schedule and regardless of the circumstances. That’s just the way it is.”